Physicist/Scientist- X-Ray Source Modeling

Applied Materials•Benicia, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Applied Materials is a global leader in materials science and engineering solutions, crucial for new semiconductor chips and advanced displays. The equipment we create and service is essential for advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor chips. We offer a supportive work culture that encourages learning, development, and career growth while tackling challenges and driving innovative solutions. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible and learn every day in a leading global company. We are committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for our employees at work, at home, or wherever they may go.

Requirements

MS or PhD in physics, applied physics, EE, ME, nuclear engineering, or a related field, plus roughly 5+ years applying simulation to physical hardware.
Demonstrated ownership of at least two of: charged particle optics, thermal and structural analysis materials under high thermal load, X-ray generation and optics.
Fluency in finite element methods and their limits, plus working knowledge of at least one other relevant numerical approach: boundary element, particle-in-cell, Monte Carlo radiation transport, or ray tracing.
Multiphysics tools (COMSOL, Opera, CST, ANSYS, Lorentz, FEniCS, or comparable), driven through their scripting interfaces rather than the GUI alone.
Python, C, or C++ for pre- and post-processing, data reduction, and optimization loops.
Version control as a default habit.
A track record of comparing model to measurement, finding them in disagreement, and diagnosing why.

Nice To Haves

Monte Carlo radiation transport (Geant4/TOPAS, PENELOPE, EGSnrc) for electron-target interaction, spectrum, and dose.
X-ray optics simulation (SHADOW/OASYS, XRT, McXtrace, SRW) and dynamical diffraction calculation for crystal optics.
Cathode and emission physics: dispenser cathodes, LaB₆ or CeB₆, field emission, lifetime and poisoning mechanisms.
High-vacuum practice: outgassing, thermal management across brazed and welded joints, contact conductance, high-voltage holdoff and breakdown.
Adjacent-field background: accelerator or beamline physics, electron microscopy, vacuum electronics (TWT, klystron, magnetron), medical or industrial X-ray tubes, e-beam lithography, semiconductor metrology.
Design of experiments, numerical optimization, surrogate or reduced-order modeling.
Comfort working from mechanical CAD, including defeaturing and model prep.

Responsibilities

Simulate electron optics end to end: thermionic emission, space-charge-limited transport, focusing and aberration, deflection, and spot formation in realistic geometry with realistic applied fields.
Build coupled electrothermal models of beam power deposition on targets, apertures, and grids: conjugate heat transfer, radiative exchange, transient and duty-cycled loading, thermally driven distortion, and the feedback of that distortion onto beam and spot performance.
Model X-ray generation and transport: bremsstrahlung and characteristic emission yield from transmission and reflection targets, self-absorption in target and substrate, spectral shaping by filtration and windows, downstream optics, and detector response.
Quantify and communicate uncertainty: convergence and mesh studies, sensitivity to material property data and geometric tolerance, and an explicit statement of what each model can and cannot predict.
Design the experiments that test the models.
Identify which measurable actually discriminates between competing hypotheses, then work with the lab to execute and interpret.
Translate sensitivity results into design and manufacturing decisions: drawing tolerances, alignment budgets, process windows.
Script and version simulation workflows so parametric studies are reproducible and re-runnable by someone else.
Contribute to technical customer engagements.
Mentor junior physicists and engineers in modeling practice, including the habit of validating before believing.